IBM Leads in Mobile App Dev, Software-Defined Storage

Industry analysts have ranked IBM among the top providers of mobile application development and software-defined storage offerings.

IBM has ranked highly in recent analyst reports on mobile application development and software-defined storage platforms.
Earlier this week, Gartner positioned IBM as a leader in the research 2014 Magic Quadrant for Mobile Application Development Platforms. For the report, Gartner evaluated the IBM MobileFirst application development portfolio that includes a range of tools for developers to create, deploy, manage and secure mobile apps, on-premise or in the cloud.
IBM recently announced several enhancements to the IBM Worklight platform, which is a key component of the MobileFirst portfolio. The enhancements address the evolving needs of mobile app developers, including those increasingly incorporating analytics and cloud-based services. Other major components of the MobileFirst portfolio include integrated software and services for mobile management, payments, security and engagement.
In its assessment, Gartner said, "Leaders must represent a strong combination of ability to execute and completeness of vision. In the mobile application development platform (MADP) sector, this means that leaders not only are good at cross-platform development, deployment and management across the full life cycle, but also have good vision of the multichannel enterprise, support for multiple architectures and standards, a solid understanding of IT requirements, and scalable channels and partnerships. Leaders must provide platforms that are easy to purchase, program, deploy and upgrade, and which can connect to a range of back-end and cloud services, from the same vendor as well as third parties."

IBM Worklight enables enterprises to optimize mobile user experiences by supporting both native and hybrid development models as well as tracking user experience with sentiment analysis and crowd-sourced feedback submissions. The platform helps developers integrate analytics, workflow and back-end systems, and ensure greater enterprise security and version management.

IBM Worklight also features mobile management and security capabilities for scanning apps to identify vulnerabilities early in development cycles and assist with determining problems with apps that have already been deployed, IBM said.
"The need for mobile apps that maximize the user experience and spur transactions is exploding," said Phil Buckellew, vice president of enterprise mobile at IBM, in a statement. "With that rising demand, organizations need to rapidly build, secure, manage and integrate those mobile apps with their back-end systems to drive better decision making. We feel this recognition reinforces how IBM is redefining the mobile application development platform and putting a rich set of tools and cloud-based services into the hands of the world's developers so they can focus on creating exceptional interactions."
Earlier this year, the IBM MobileFirst portfolio was recognized as a leader in both the 2014 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Managed Mobility Services (MMS) and the Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Mobility Management Suites.
Meanwhile, earlier this month, International Data Corp. (IDC) ranked IBM as the top ranking supplier of software-defined storage platforms (SDS-P) in its latest Worldwide Storage Software QView for the second quarter of 2014, based on software revenue.
IDC describes SDS-P as "platforms that deliver the full suite of storage services via a software stack that uses (but is not dependent on) commodity hardware built with off-the-shelf components."

IBM's SDS portfolio includes software technologies such as a global file system, code-named Elastic Storage, that automatically manages data locally and globally. It also provides high-performance data access, easy administration and the ability to scale technology infrastructures.
In addition to Elastic Storage, the portfolio includes IBM's storage virtualization software, SAN Volume Controller, which enables clients to virtualize storage infrastructures for data movement across heterogeneous storage systems. SAN Volume Controller is also available as part of IBM's Virtual Storage Center, which provides additional capabilities for storage management such as backup, restore and visual administration.

"IBM Software Defined Storage capabilities are providing clients with the kind of scalability and fast data access their customers, employees and partners are not just demanding, but expecting," said Jamie Thomas, general manager of Storage and Software Defined Systems in IBM's Systems & Technology Group.

IDC's Worldwide Storage Software QView provides total market size and vendor shares of the storage software market. This latest IDC QView marks the first that IDC has measured the size of the SDS-P market. According to the firm, "sales of SDS-P were just 3.5 percent of the total software market value, but grew more than 15.7 percent during the quarter."